Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2012 Questionnaire: Christopher Baldwin

You’ve been waiting an entire year for it, and now it’s here: our fourth annual Toronto Comic Arts Festival Questionnaire. This year’s festival — one of Toronto’s finest, comic or otherwise — takes place May 5 and 6 at the Toronto Reference Library. Kate Beaton, Alison Bechdel, Jeff Smith, Guy Delisle and Bryan Lee O’Malley are just a few of the hundreds of artists and creators scheduled to attend — click here for all the info. Just like last year, we sent our questionnaire to people exhibiting at the festival for the very first time.

A: Last year I was working a tiny convention in the SW. And although I had a lovely time and met truly great folk, I kept looking at twitter where all the cartoonists I know were drunk with glee, gushing over how awesome TCAF was. So I thought I should investigate.

Q: Have you ever been to Toronto before? To Canada? If not, what’s your favourite Canadian stereotype?

A: Being a native New Englander, I have. Lovely town, although I haven’t seen much of it. I scheduled my trip to stay a little before an after TCAF to see the sites. I try not to make jokes about Canadian stereotypes anymore because it seems to make my friends from Canada sad and only seems to make my AMERICAN friends laugh. But I do like the stereotype that they are
very polite, because I have generally found this to be true and it’s something I value highly. Oh, I do love the stereotype that they think there is a “u” in the word favorite. ;-)

Q: What’s the coolest thing you’ve heard about the festival?

A: Free admission. I do go there as a merchant trying to make a living, but I still prefer conventions which place emphasis on the experience, on openness, and on being able to interact with the actual cartoonists. This is the only Convention I know about with free admission, and I think that really makes it an even more open and welcoming environment.

Q: How many comic festivals/fairs/conventions do you attend each year? Why are they so important?

A: Historically very few, but last year I did about a dozen, this year too. A lot of it is simply to meet readers. They have fun, I have fun, win-win. As far as money, conventions aren’t a huge part of my income, but my income is very small and so they are notable enough to justify.

Q: What’s the weirdest experience you’ve ever had with a fellow cartoonist?

A: When Al Gore and I invented webcomics. I’m joking there because I can’t think of anything. I’m not sure if I simply have tame relationships with other cartoonists, or if I find life so bizarre that i don’t know what’s really “weird” anymore. I’ll be hanging out with the brilliant local webcartoonist Don Ahé during TCAF weekend, maybe we’ll throw cow pats and that can be my answer.

Q: Which artist at the festival would you pick to write/draw your biography? Why?

A: Bryan Lee O’Malley. I think he would make the mundane day-to-day of my life seem totally glamorous and awesome.

Q: If TCAF had a competition for best costume, who/what would you come dressed as?

A: Captain Tomorrow from Dylan Horrocks’ Hicksville would be fun. Nobody would recognize it, but that’d be okay. I think it would be a nice nod to what the convention is about.

A: For comic strips, I loved Garfield and Peanuts as a kid. For comic books (in around 6th grade), it was Myth Adventures and Groo. These days I’d have to lean towards Europe: Isaac The Pirate and Rabbi’s Cat are both excellent.

Q: What’s your favourite thing to draw?

A: Faces. All of my stories and my interest in comics, and often in life, is the human side, the motivation and emotion. Faces more often than not are the distilled reflection of that for me.

Q: Quick — name the best member of The Avengers? The worst?

A: Can’t. Never got into superhero comics. I enjoyed The Cardigan’s cover of the song “Iron Man” in 1996, he’s one of them, right?